Matthew 15
15
Jesus Breaks Religious Traditions
1Then the Pharisees and religious scholars # 15:1 Or “scribes,” considered to be experts in interpreting Jewish laws. came from Jerusalem and asked Jesus this question: 2“Why do your disciples ignore the traditions of our elders? For example, they don’t ceremonially wash their hands before they eat bread.”
3Jesus answered, “And why do you ignore the commandment of God because of your traditions? 4For didn’t God say, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever abuses or insults his father or mother must be put to death?’ # 15:4 See Ex. 20:12; 21:17; Lev. 20:9.
5“But you teach that it’s permissible to say to your parents when they are in financial need, ‘Whatever gift you would have received from me I can keep for myself, since I dedicated it as an offering to God.’ 6This doesn’t honor your father or mother. And you have elevated your tradition above the words of God. 7Frauds and hypocrites! Isaiah described you perfectly when he said:
8These people honor me only with their words,
for their hearts are so very distant from me.
9They pretend to worship me,
but their worship is nothing more
than the empty traditions of men.” # 15:9 See Isa. 29:13.
10Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “Come, listen and open your heart to understand. 11What truly contaminates a person is not what he puts into his mouth but what comes out of his mouth. That’s what makes people defiled.”
12Then his disciples approached him and said, “Don’t you know that what you just said offended the Pharisees?”
13Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant is destined to be uprooted. 14Stay away from them, # 15:14 The Aramaic is “Let them remain blind! For they are nothing more than blind leaders of the blind.” for they’re nothing more than blind guides. Do you know what happens when a blind man pretends to guide another blind man? They both stumble into a ditch!”
15Peter spoke up and said, “Will you explain to us what you mean by your parable?”
16Jesus said, “Even after all that I’ve taught you, you still remain clueless? 17Is it hard to understand that whatever you eat enters the stomach only to pass out into the sewer? 18But what comes out of your mouth reveals the core of your heart. Words can pollute, not food. 19You will find living within an impure heart evil ideas, murderous thoughts, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lies, and slander. # 15:19 Or “blasphemies.” 20That’s what pollutes a person. Eating with unwashed hands doesn’t defile anyone.”
A Lebanese Woman’s Faith
21Then Jesus left and went north into the non-Jewish region of Lebanon. # 15:21 Or “Tyre and Sidon,” both cities of Lebanon. 22He encountered there a Canaanite woman # 15:22 The Hebrew Matthew is “a Canaanite merchant woman.” Canaan included the region of modern-day Lebanon. Canaanite refers to a non-Jewish person who lived in that region. It was in this very region that an Old Testament woman named Jezebel established Baal worship. Now Jesus heals a woman and brings her into the true worship of God. who shouted out to him, “Lord, Son of David, show mercy to me! My daughter is horribly afflicted by a demon that torments her.” 23But Jesus never answered her. So his disciples said to him, “Why do you ignore this woman who is crying out to us?” # 15:23 As translated from Hebrew Matthew. The Greek is “The disciples kept begging Jesus to send her away.”
24Jesus said, “I’ve only been sent to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26Jesus responded, “It’s not right for a man to take bread from his children and throw it out to the dogs.” # 15:26 Jesus uses a figure of speech and describes the people of Israel as “children” who view the non-Jewish people as “dogs.”
27“You’re right, Lord,” she replied. “But even puppies get to eat the crumbs that fall from the prince’s table.”
28Then Jesus answered her, “Dear woman, your faith is strong! What you desire will be done for you.” And at that very moment, her daughter was instantly set free from demonic torment.
Jesus Heals Many Others
29After leaving Lebanon, Jesus went to Lake Galilee and climbed a hill nearby and sat down. 30Then huge crowds of people streamed up the hill, bringing with them the lame, blind, deformed, mute, and many others in need of healing. They laid them at Jesus’ feet and he healed them all.
31And the crowds marveled with amazement, astounded over the things they were witnessing with their own eyes! The lame were walking, the mute were speaking, the crippled were made well, and the blind could see. For three days everyone celebrated the miracles as they exalted and praised the God of Israel!
Jesus Feeds Thousands
32Jesus called his disciples to himself and said, “I care deeply about all these people, for they’ve already been with me for three days without food. I don’t want to send them away fasting or else they may be overcome by weakness on their journey home.”
33The disciples said to him, “Where in the world are we going to find enough food in this desolate place to feed this crowd?”
34“How many barley loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35So he gave the order, “Have the people sit down on the grass.” 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, who then distributed the food to the crowds. 37When everyone was full and satisfied, they gathered up the leftovers. And from what was once seven loaves and a few fish, they filled seven baskets! # 15:37 The Greek word used here implies a very large basket, possibly the size of a person. 38There were four thousand men who ate the food Jesus multiplied, and even more including the women and children!
39After dismissing the crowd, Jesus got into the boat and crossed over to the region of Magdala. # 15:39 Or “Magadan.” This was a place where fish were salted and preserved. Magdala means “tower.” Magdala was the town that Mary Magdalene came from. Perhaps during this visit is when they first met.
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Matthew 15: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationMatthew 15
15
Obey God’s Law
1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, 2“Why don’t your followers obey the unwritten laws which have been handed down to us? They don’t wash their hands before they eat.”
3Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow your own teachings? 4God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I have given it to God already.’ 6You teach that person not to honor his father or his mother. You rejected what God said for the sake of your own rules. 7You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he said about you:
8‘These people show honor to me with words,
but their hearts are far from me.
9Their worship of me is worthless.
The things they teach are nothing but human rules.’ ”#Isaiah 29:13
10After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. 11It is not what people put into their mouths that makes them unclean. It is what comes out of their mouths that makes them unclean.”
12Then his followers came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are angry because of what you said?”
13Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. 14Stay away from the Pharisees; they are blind leaders. And if a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
15Peter said, “Explain the example to us.”
16Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? 17Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then goes out of the body. 18But what people say with their mouths comes from the way they think; these are the things that make people unclean. 19Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and speaking evil of others. 20These things make people unclean; eating with unwashed hands does not make them unclean.”
Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman
21Jesus left that place and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that area came to Jesus and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter has a demon, and she is suffering very much.”
23But Jesus did not answer the woman. So his followers came to Jesus and begged him, “Tell the woman to go away. She is following us and shouting.”
24Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”
25Then the woman came to Jesus again and bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”
27The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! I will do what you asked.” And at that moment the woman’s daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29After leaving there, Jesus went along the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there.
30Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those who could not speak, and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak before were now able to speak. The crippled were made strong. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
More than Four Thousand Fed
32Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33His followers asked him, “How can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”
34Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he divided the food and gave it to his followers, and they gave it to the people. 37All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his followers filled seven baskets with the leftover pieces of food. 38There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. 39After sending the people home, Jesus got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.